Clothesline structure



Nov. 14, 1 950 BUMBERA r 2,530,324

CLOTHESLINE STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 9, 1946 Patented Nov. 14, 19502,530,324 CLOTHESLINE STRUCTURE Edmund A. Bumbera, Turtle Creek, andClarence S. Herr, J r., Penn Township, Allegheny County, Pa.; said Herr,J r., assignor .to said Bumbera Application October 9, 1946, Serial'No.702,160

1 Claim.

Our invention consists in a new and improved clothes line structure.

The principal object in view is the provision of means for hanging outfor drying a large washin a relatively contracted area.

In'many instances, such .as in thicklypo'pulated localities and inbuilding developments where the houses are built closely together or inrows with narrow back yards of a limited length, the common method ofstringing a clothes line provides too limited a capacity, and thus thewash must be hung out in successive sections, requiring more time andincreased labor even :in the case of a-small family. a a

To solve the problem of drying at large wash in one operation and in ,acontracted area, we have invented the new and improved clothes linestructure, hereinafter described, and which com-v prises twosubstantially iparallelasupportin'g members, preferably chains, erectedat the proper elevation, and of a length and spaced apart the distancepermitted by the available yard area. Stretched between said support ina zigzag disposal is a clothes line detachably connected to the twosupporting members at staggered points and at its ends. Means areprovided for connecting the clothes line to the supporting members insuch a manner that the line may be quickly installed or removed andslipping of the clothes line between the flights is prevented.

To attach the clothes line to the longitudinal supporting members at theangles of the clothes line and at its ends, we provide a new andimproved type of hook members which are detachably anchored to theopposed supporting members in staggered relation and with which theclothes line is engaged in such manner as to be conveniently and quicklymounted and dismounted from position and which will prevent longitudinalslipping of the clothes line.

Other points of novelty will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the principles of ourinvention.

Fig. l is a view in plan illustrating the clothes line structureassembled ready for hanging out the wash;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in perspective showing one of the hookmembers used to attach the clothes line to the longitudinal upportingmembers;

Fig. 3 is a broken elevation showing the attachment of an end of one ofthe longitudinal members to a fixed support, such as a post;

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the provision of means for maintainingthe longitudinal members in proper tautness. I

Referring to the'drawings, l0 represents-the two substantially parallellongitudinal supporting members whicharepreferably chains of the-openlinktype, such, for instance, as the chain come monly. termed a porchswing chain, the interconnected links of the same being indicate'dat IIin Figs. 2, 3 and 4. At their extremities these:

. .l 4 indicates a hook'atta'ched to'the wall or post,

as by .havinga threaded shank :screwed into the post l3, as illustratedin. Fig. 3, the end link ll of the chain l0 being looped over the hook.To enable the chainslll to be made sufliciently taut to :preventmaterial sagging we provide in each chain a turnbuckle IS.

The chains preferably are as nearly parallel and spaced as far apart asthe available yard area permits. 1

l6 indicates the clothes line, which preferably is the usual type, andis disposed between the chains l0 in a zigzag manner and supported atits angles and ends by the latter.

For attaching the clothes line l6 at its angles and ends to the chainsIn we provide the hook members I! which are formed of lengths of metalrod or wire stock. The extremities of the said lengths are bent to formthe hook portions I8 which face rearwardly and diverge as shown in Fig.2. At the base of said hook portions [8 the portions l9 are bent toextend rearwardly forming with the base of the portions l8 the narrowloop portions 20. At their outer ends the portions 19 converge intoclose parallel relation and the central portion of the length of stockis bent upwardly, then rearwardly, then upwardly and finally forwardlyto form the snug central hook portion 2| which is positioned in advanceof the hook portions l8.

When in use the loops 28 extend through and engage adjacent links H ofthe chain [0, thus removably mounting the hook members I! on the chains.The hook members are equally spaced apart on each chain and the hookmembers on one chain are disposed equally in staggered relation to thoseon the other chain, as illustrated in Fig. 1. It is evident the hookmembers l'l, owing to the engagement between the loops 2!! and the chainlinks H, cannot shift longitudinally of the chains but will maintaintheir proper relative positions.

The clothes line I6 engages from the rear the end hook portions l8 andintermediate of such points of engagement the rope is looped around thecenter hook portion 2|. When the clothes line is held taut and engagedin such manner that one of the hook members I! either at an intermediateportion of the line or adjacent either extremity of the line the lattercannot shift relative to the hook member but each flight of the linebetween hooks is individually anchored at its ends, and therefore aheavy load of wet clothes hung on one flight will not draw line fromadjacent flights and thus permit its load to sag dangerously.

The angle between adjacent flights of the clothes line as erected maybevaried in accordance with the available yard area, the angles howeverbeing sufficient to provide access on the part of the operator to theclothes on adjacent flights and to prevent articles on adjacent flightsfrom intertangling.

The new and improved clothes line structure hereinbefore described is ofgreat advantage under modern conditions of limited yard area, enabling alarge wash to be successfully dried in one, operation of hanging thesame in a contracted area. a building compartment in which under theusual set-up but a very limited wash could be suspended at one time.

It is evident that our improved means for attaching the line at its endsand at its angles to the longitudinal supporting members preventslengthwise slipping of the line due to ununiform distribution of theload between adjacent flights; a very important consideration asotherwise the heavily loaded flights of the line would sag andfrequently the clothes on the heavily loaded flights would be broughtinto contact with the ground.

It may also be employed within We claim:

In a clothes line assembly, the combination of a pair of chains arrangedto be stretched in spaced relation between fixed supports, a pluralityof spaced apart fastening members provided with hooked portionsdetachably engaging the links of said chains, the fastening members ofone chain being positioned in staggered relation with the fasteningmembers of the other chain, and a flexible clothes line stretchedbetween the chains in a zigzag pattern with its ends and itsintermediate angles secured to the fastening members and held therebyagainst longitudinal slipping of the clothes line.

EDMUND A. BUMBERA. CLARENCE S. HERB, JR.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 209,814 KeeferNov. 12,1878 692,753 Wright Feb. 4, 1902 766,758 Cross Aug. 2, 19041,268,132 Lenzen June 4, 1918 1,349,503 Dowdle Aug. 10, 1920' 1,357,383Curtis Nov. '2, 1920 1,411,850 Kroona Apr. 4, 1922 1,531,379 CummingsMar. 31, 1925 1,960,882 Turner May 29, 1934 2,005,491 Beaverson June 18,1935 2,214,499 Evans Sept. 10, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country DateGreat Britain July 11, 1935:

